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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29061363">The Trouble with Tropes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteveCaster/pseuds/SteveCaster'>SteveCaster</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Blake's 7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A bit silly, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:14:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,890</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29061363</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteveCaster/pseuds/SteveCaster</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When a small animal teleports with the crew, onto the Liberator, a sequence of bizarre events is set in motion.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Where have I heard that before?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Analysis,” said Blake, staring at the small furry animal crouched under the dome of Zen’s scanner. Zen took a moment to consider.</p><p>&lt;species unknown&gt;</p><p>“Fat lot of use you are,” said Vila.</p><p>“Intelligence level?”</p><p>&lt;unknown&gt;</p><p>“It must have some intelligence rating,” said Gan, “it followed us back on board.”</p><p>“That implies stupidity, not intelligence,” remarked Avon.</p><p>Blake persisted, “Is it a threat?”</p><p>&lt;Unknown&gt;</p><p>“Terrific,” said Vila. “We acquire a pet and Zen can’t tell us anything about it. I don’t like it.”</p><p>Ignoring him, Blake looked the creature over again. It was small, about the size of his palm, with four legs hidden under a mass of fur. Two round black eyes stared, almost pleadingly, from either side of its quivering nose. It certainly looked harmless enough.</p><p>“It looks harmless enough,” he said.</p><p>“I’ll remind you of that in the middle of the night, when it’s biting your nose off.”</p><p>“I’ll make sure to lock the door.”</p><p>Cally spoke up. “I believe it may be trying to communicate.”</p><p>As everyone fell silent, a faint chirruping noise met their ears.</p><p>“Anyone speak chirrup?" asked Vila. The little creature stopped at the sound of Vila's voice. Then, when Vila went quiet, it started again. Vila raised his eyebrows. "I said, "Does anyone speak chirrup?""</p><p>Again the animal ceased making noises.</p><p>“It appears Gan’s right,” said Avon. “It refusing to communicate with Vila, does suggest a level of intelligence.”</p><p>"Do you know what it is, Orac?" asked Blake.</p><p>"It is most fascinating; similar to a Tree Niska of Beevon 4."</p><p>"But what is it?"</p><p>Silence.</p><p>"He doesn't know!" said Vila somewhat triumphantly. "This is a moment to celebrate!"</p><p>Orac whirred indignantly. "I do not know... yet. However, I shall study the creature and search Federation records for any mention of it."</p><p>"All right. So what do we want to do? Keep it on board, or return it to the planet?"</p><p>"It seems placid enough," said Gan. "I vote we keep it."</p><p>"Avon?"</p><p>"I have no interest in it whatsoever," he said dismissively.</p><p>No one else, except Vila, had any objections so it was decided the creature would remain on Liberator. Carefully, Blake removed it from the scanner. As he held it in his hands, its noise changed to a kind of soft purr.</p><p>"I think it likes you, Blake," said Jenna smiling.</p><p>Blake tried to look like he didn't care but he couldn't hold back a grin as he gave it a little stroke. "We need somewhere to keep it. Perhaps we could put it in the empty workshop?"</p><p>"We also need a name for it," pointed out Gan, "if it's going to be a member of the crew."</p><p>Avon glanced up from his data pad. "It will be more use than some of the current crew."</p><p>"Diana?" suggested Jenna. "On earth, during the ancient calendar, some believed animals were watched over by a being called Diana."</p><p>Somehow the name suited the little animal, so it was decided.</p><p>Orac activated. "There are no records of this creature in any of the databases I have access to. There are references to a creature similar to this in some cultures which have joined the Federation. However, the references are stories and, therefore, cannot be considered accurate."</p><p>"Interesting," said Blake. "Tell us one of the tales about them, Orac."</p><p>"The species is referred to in some stories as a Trope. In one such story a series of unlikely events occur after a family find one in a forest."</p><p>"That's it?" asked Blake. "That's the story?"</p><p>"It is."</p><p>"The Federation must have been delighted to acquire that culture," muttered Avon.</p><p>"Right, well, we'd better keep alert for a series of unlikely events then," said Blake.</p><p>Everyone, except Avon, who just looked vaguely bored, laughed. Which was a shame because, had they been paying attention, it's possible someone may have noticed the small egg Diana had laid in the scanner dome.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Step in my Transporter, so I can teleport ya</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I thought you put Diana in the spare workshop?" said Jenna, peering into Zen's scanner dome.</p><p>"I <em>did </em>put her in. This one's not Diana," replied Blake.</p><p>They both looked at each other but before they could speak, the intercom pinged.</p><p>"Blake? Avon. I think you'd better get down to the spare workshop. Diana's been busy."</p><p>A few minutes later, Blake and Jenna walked into the workshop and recoiled in shock. Though they'd heard the chirruping from the corridor, they were unprepared for the sheer number of Dianas which were in the room. Hearing the door open, the Dianas, in unison, turned their faces towards the newcomers and, recognizing Blake, hopped up and down enthusiastically.</p><p>"Ah," said Blake.</p><p>Avon, removing a couple of Dianas from his head, gently parted the twenty or so in front of him and moved closer. He had to shout over the din.</p><p>"When I came in, there were about ten of them. I'd say we have a few more now."</p><p>He wasn't wrong. It was difficult to see the floor due to the mass of creatures covering it. Backing out of the room, and closing the door, Blake concluded that, perhaps, it hadn't been such a good idea to keep Diana. Before he could say anything however, the communicator activated.</p><p>"Blake? Cally. There's something you should see up here."</p><p>"Is it anything to do with Diana?" asked Blake resignedly.</p><p>"Yes. How did you know?"</p><p>"Lucky guess. I'm on my way."</p><p>The bridge was in chaos. Though there were only about a dozen Dianas, they were behaving very differently to the ones below. These were scuttling about and climbing all over the sofas. Vila was attempting to capture one with a mop and bucket, while Gan tried to tame one by staring it in the eyes whenever it stayed still for long enough.</p><p>The constant chirping was beginning to irritate Jenna.</p><p>"Blake, we need to get rid of them."</p><p>Blake wasn't about to disagree.</p><p>"Any idea how to capture them?" asked Vila.</p><p>And, at that point, a very curious thing happened. The creatures not only stopped making noises, as Diana had done the night before, but also stood still. No sooner had Vila finished speaking and they all took off again.</p><p>"Yes," called Blake. "I think I do."</p><hr/><p>It took the best part of two hours to round up all of the tropes. That wasn't the worst of it for Avon. After the first ten minutes of listening to Vila babbling, he'd had enough and went to get some ear plugs. Vila hadn't been offended, he was providing a public service after all. But he was slightly disappointed as, one by one, his crew mates followed suit. Gan was the last. Vila thought he had him hooked with story about how he got a scar on his little finger (which had put him off violence for good) but when Gan made noises to be excused, he knew his audience was lost.</p><p>With the tropes placed in a selection of buckets, it was decided they would be teleported down to the planet. Vila had to go as he was the only one who could keep them calm, Blake and Cally took two buckets each so there would only be one trip.</p><p>"Down and safe," Vila reported. "We are making our way to the cave where we found Diana now. There's some quite uneven terrain but we're coping well. Blake is in the lead, then me and finally..."</p><p>Avon cut the link.</p><p>A short time later, the comm activated again.</p><p>"Liberator, this is Blake. We're ready to come up."</p><p>The familiar swooshing sound filled the teleport bay and the three crew members stepped off the platform with some relief.</p><p>"On Auron we tend not to talk as much as that. It is nice to get some peace," said Blake.</p><p>A worried expression crossed Avon's face.</p><p>"What did you say Blake?"</p><p>"Nothing," said Vila.</p><p>Light dawned in Avon's eyes. "I thought something like this might happen eventually."</p><p>"Something like what?" asked Cally.</p><p>"Well now. Cally if you could raise your hand?"</p><p>Dutifully, Blake raised his hand. "What's going on here?"</p><p>"It seems that the teleport has malfunctioned and you've become mixed up," stated Avon. "It must have been something to do with those tropes."</p><p>"So Cally's in Blake, Blake's in Vila and Vila's in Cally?" asked Jenna.</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>A puzzled look crossed everyone's faces followed by a moment of silence, as no one could think of a solution. The communicator activated.</p><p>"Blake, Gan. Can you come to the flight deck?"</p><p>"On my way," answered Vila.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Knowing me, knowing you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They entered the flight deck to find Gan motionless, staring intently at a section of deck behind a sofa. Without looking up, Gan lifted his arm, raising his index finger at the crew; the universal symbol for 'wait a minute'. Feeling the tension in the room, they waited anxiously.</p><p>With infinite care, Gan lowered himself towards the floor, all the while staring at the same spot. Though Blake/Vila couldn't see what Gan was looking at, he had a pretty good idea. Gan froze, and the crew realized he was steeling himself for action. </p><p>A flurry of activity broke Gan's spell. First a small, hairy creature, a trope, Cally/Blake realized with disappointment, burst from behind the sofa. Before Gan could pursue it, a sudden gust of wind knocked him over. The lights rapidly dimmed, as a crackle of energy erupted across the bridge. The darkness was only broken by the intermittent flashing of Zen's dome. Gradually, a new luminescence took its place, gentle hues of lilac and lavender. A distant thrumming sound rapidly built in intensity and, just as it became unbearable, a figure appeared on the sofa, with a soft 'plop'.</p><p>Plop! another individual materialised. The first got shakily to her feet.</p><p>"It worked!" she breathed. "I can't believe Avonne actually got the jump right. Usually her bravado doesn't match the reality!"</p><p>"Yes, <em>reality!</em>" agreed the man on the sofa. "Perhaps we shouldn't tell her. We'll never hear the last of it!"</p><p>Gan straightened up and the newcomers noticed him for the first time.</p><p>"Hello," he said with what he hoped was a friendly smile. "I'm..."</p><p>"Gan?" queried the leader. "You're a <em>man</em>?"</p><p>Gan was a little nonplussed by this, so remained silent.</p><p>"Well," finished the woman. "Clearly Avonne was right about there being differences. This could be fun!"</p><p>She stepped forward so that more light fell on her face. Although her features were somewhat different to the person Gan knew well, there was no denying it was a version of Vila who stood before him. A female Vila.</p><p>"I'm Veela," she said, extending a hand. </p><p>Blake/Vila cleared their throat and Veela turned round. "It's me!" she said joyously. "Oh... little disappointed I turned out like that."</p><p>"Like what?" asked Vila/Cally indignantly.</p><p>But Veela was too busy looking at the others to answer. She glanced at Cally/Blake. "Blake you're a bloke!" she exclaimed. "This is just too weird. Do you have anything to drink on this ship?"</p><p>Avon moved into view. "Perhaps," he said, with just a small amount of menace in his voice, "you could explain what has happened?"</p><p>"Oooh, just as direct here too, I see," said Veela. "Yes, yes, quite right. Straight to business. Let me introduce my companion. This is Jenner."</p><p>The similarities were startling. To all intents and purposes, Jenner was Jenna. "Hello," he said.</p><p>"This could prove difficult," muttered Avon.</p><hr/><p>A little later, with the introductions out of the way (which proved surprisingly complicated) everyone convened on the sofas. They listened with rapped attention, for several minutes to Veela's story.</p><p>"So, your Avonne," said Blake/Vila. "Has found a way to jump dimensions?" he glanced across at Avon. "Incredible! Isn't it Avon?"</p><p>Avon stayed stoically neutral. "Doesn't she know it's immensely dangerous?" he asked. "If two dimensions were to collide, the result could be catastrophic!"</p><p>"Yes, she said something like that," admitted Veela. "Didn't really pay a great deal of attention. The way I saw it, we didn't have a choice. Either we get the tropes back or be responsible for the end of everything; we had to take the risk. Tell me, in your dimension, have you come across something called a 'trope' yet?"</p><p>The crew exchanged glances.</p><p>"Yes, there was one on the flight deck just before you arrived," said Gan. "I was trying to capture it."</p><p>"That's not good," said Jenner. "It could have already started. We'll have to be quick."</p><p>"What might have started?" asked Jenna.</p><p>Veela took a deep breath. "Basically, what your Avon just said. Catastrophe! In our reality, those tropes are harmless little creatures. They breed quickly but there's nothing dangerous about them. We ended up with several, as it turned out, hundreds on Liberator. When we teleported them off the ship, we made a shocking discovery. Combined with the teleport's matter transfer, the tropes didn't just materialise where we intended but somehow swapped dimensions too. Avonne offered some technical explanation but I kind of zoned out... anyway, the fear is that if enough tropes from different dimensions meet up, it will cause a huge paradox and be the end of all things in all realities. So we split into pairs and went dimension hopping."</p><p>"So you think that trope was from your reality?" asked Jenna.</p><p>"Yes," answered Jenner. "We were on our bridge, trope tracking, when it vanished. Avonne activated the realiport and here we are."</p><p>There was a moment of silence, as the implications of Veela's comments sunk in. </p><p>"Really not sure about the lighting in here," said Jenner.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Didn't know what time it was, the lights were low</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They decided to split up and search Liberator for the missing trope. Blake/Vila was particularly concerned that it could start multiplying at any time. </p><p>"The sooner we find it, the sooner we can sort out this teleport swapping nonsense," stated Cally/Blake.</p><p>"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," a familiar voice cut across the room. They spun round to see... Blayke blocking the exit, gun raised.</p><p>Just as with Jenner and Veela, he looked virtually identical to the Blake they all knew. The only difference, as far as Blake/Vila could see, was that this Blake sported a neatly trimmed beard (which, Blake/Vila admitted, did look quite dashing.)</p><p>"Neither can I," came a voice from the other hallway. They looked across to find a bearded Avon.</p><p>"Yes, Ayvon, I think they'd worked that out for themselves."</p><p>"I'm not so sure; I think it's best to be explicit about these things."</p><p>Blayke looked unimpressed.</p><p>"Fine," said Ayvon grumpily. "Prisoners, I wonder, could you please raise a hand, if you assumed Blayke was speaking for both of us?"</p><p>Nobody moved.</p><p>Ayvon looked victorious. "See? Clarification. Always important."</p><p>"No," said Blayke firmly. "They were too afraid to move. That's why you won the vote. I'll prove it..."</p><p>Exasperated, Blake/Vila interrupted, "I assume you're from another dimension? In which case, let us go, so we can sort out this sorry mess!"</p><p>"Oh, I don't think so," said Blayke icily.</p><p>"Neither do I,"</p><p>Blayke glared at Ayvon.</p><p>"But if we don't find the trope, you'll never get back to your own reality."</p><p>"What if we told you, we don't want to return to our reality? That we have become used to the lighting here and actually find it very calming?"</p><p>"I feel much calmer," added Ayvon.</p><p>"What about your dimension though? Who will bring an end to tyranny, restore freedoms?" asked Blake/Vila. "Who will take up your mantle?"</p><p>Blayke scoffed. "End tyranny? <em>End it</em>! In my dimension, I rule two planets! Two! But here, with this ship, my dominion will know no bounds! I shall be unstoppable!"</p><p>"He's aiming for four," confided Ayvon, moving forward and placing Orack on a step. "Besides, according to Orack, there's only a 97% chance of all life ending."</p><p>"But that's madness. You would risk the end if everything for a couple more planets?" asked Veela. "And why has Orack got a beard drawn on it?"</p><p>The device activated, "A more pertinent question would be, why does yours not?"</p><p>"I am pogonophobic and therefore would have little use for such a thing," answered Orac.</p><p>"Fascinating!"</p><p>"Enough!" commanded Blayke. "This talk of facial hair is pointless. Gan, I assume you are the galaxy's top pilot, just like in my dimension. You shall fly the ship to the nearest planet and we shall conquer it!"</p><p>Gan and Blake/Vila exchanged looks and the latter gave a tiny nod. Gan approached the flight console, hoping he looked convincing.</p><p>"Right... fly the ship.... fly ... the... Zen? What's the nearest planet?"</p><p>&lt;Filon is 2.8 hours flight at standard by 5&gt;</p><p>"Good. Set course and speed. I'll fly the ship on manual now Zen."</p><p>&lt;confirmed&gt;</p><p>Liberator picked up speed and, possibly deliberately, Gan put it into a spiral dive. Regardless of the intention, it was just the opportunity the others were looking for. The ship lurched and span and, while Blake and Ayvon recovered their balance, Blake/Vila, Avon and Jenner leapt on them, forcing them to the ground.</p><p>Jenna shakily made her way across to Gan, who was doing a very convincing impression of someone who had no control over Liberator, and wrestled the ship back onto a more traditional flight path.</p><p>"Thanks Jenna," grinned Gan. "I think I might need a few more lessons before I try that again."</p><p> </p>
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